As filing week opens in Washington, the U.S. Senate race drew the most candidates
The race near the top of the ballot drew the most interest Monday as filing week for candidates opened in Washington.
Although the race for the U.S. Senate seat already features a four-term incumbent, Democrat Patty Murray, and a favored Republican challenger, Chris Vance, six other candidates were interested enough in the job to plunk down a filing fee of $1,740 and file their paperwork.
That primary will feature at least two Democrats, two Republicans, a Libertarian and members of the Conservative, Independent and Human Rights parties. One of the Republicans is Uncle Mover, a perennial candidate who legally changed his name recently from Mike the Mover, which was legally changed years ago from Michael Shanks. He owns a Seattle-area moving company.
More could file before Friday’s deadline.
Some of the state’s executive offices also attracted early attention from candidates, with seven candidates for the open lieutenant governor’s post, four for governor, including incumbent Jay Inslee, four for superintendent of public instruction and three for state treasurer.
In Spokane-area races, two Democrats jumped into legislative races in the normally Republican 6th Legislative District.
Lynnette Vehrs, a retired nurse and a former Washington State University College of Nursing instructor, filed for a House of Representatives seat that will be open because Rep. Kevin Parker is not seeking re-election.
Vehrs, 61, said she’s always been interested in politics and became particularly interested in advocating for people she cared for as a visiting nurse. Concerned about higher deductibles and co-payments by insurance companies, she wants to work on expanding health care and making it more affordable for residents.
“Health care is a human right,” Vehrs said, and the state should expand beyond the Affordable Care Act to come closer to universal coverage.
She’ll face Republican Ian Field, 26, a former press secretary for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who jumped into the race the day after Parker announced he wasn’t running. Field said he hopes to appeal to millennials by emphasizing education and economic growth. One goal, he said when he announced his campaign, is finding “solutions that work for our community without political grandstanding.”
Field picked up endorsements from Parker and Spokane Mayor David Condon, another former McMorris Rodgers staffer, before he formally announced his run.
Filing for the other 6th District House seat was Shar Lichty, a community organizer for the Peace and Justice Action League who ran unsuccessfully against incumbent David Condon in last year’s mayoral campaign.
“This is the race that I’ve been working toward for three or four years as an organizer,” Lichty said, adding she has experience in working with different groups and negotiating solutions. She wants to find the money needed to meet court-ordered improvements of public schools while protecting social services.
Washington needs a more progressive tax system, but a state income tax is unrealistic at this point because voters wouldn’t support it, she said.
Lichty, 50, lost every 6th District precinct in the Spokane city limits to Condon in November, but she said she didn’t focus her doorbelling efforts there. She said she has more name recognition and experience as a candidate than in 2015 and will go to half time with the Action League to concentrate more on campaigning.
Most of the other filings in Spokane-area legislative races involved incumbents. County Commissioners Nancy McLaughlin and Shelly O’Quinn both filed for election, as did 11 Superior Court judges.